Just a Trim Dress

I got this light-weight, black and green dress at a consignment shop when I was in high school. It hung unworn in my closet last summer so I decided to do something with it. The original plan was to take the whole top off of it and replace it… that was the plan up until I put it on to take a before picture.

Looked less “meh” than expected.

I decided that it just needed a bit of a trim… so to speak.

The Auto Show, a Birthday Tradition

My husband is officially older than me for the next week and a half. We had a whirlwind couple of days in celebration.

On Friday, we unexpectedly received tickets to the Cleveland Auto Show preview night. So we got some Mexican food and margaritas (Did you know Friday was National Margarita Day?) with our friends before heading to the IX Center. We had a good time checking out the cars and I got to do the Jeep Experience.

Here’s Brad’s video from the 2012 Jeep Experience (it didn’t change much… just the years of the vehicles)

I also rode the IX Center Ferris wheel for the first (and last) time. The view of the airport at night is pretty cool, but the gondola-style seating freaked me out. We were up very high and there aren’t seat belts!

On Saturday (Brad’s actual birthday) the guys went back to the auto show to do the ride and drive events. They got to drive a Cadillac CTS-V, which was the main event as far as the guys were concerned. That evening we introduced my in-laws to the Great Lakes Brewing Company and their amazing food (and beer, but that’s a given).

We capped off a wonderful evening with birthday cheesecake.

–  –  –

When given my Pinterest board of recipes last year, Brad decided that he’d like the Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake. This year he requested it again and I’ve gotten the recipe tweaked to where I like it finally!

Rachel’s Coffee Bailey’s Cheesecake (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

Friday Five: What I Learned

Friday Five is back after a bit of a break.. mainly because I didn’t have many crazy, random thoughts to put in a bulleted posts.

Ouch

1. The cotton setting on an iron will destroy the skin on your arm if you bump it.

2. Resting your arms to type is difficult with a burned arm.

3. Deer are smart. I saw four of them use a cross walk this morning at a red light.

4. Switching from caramel macchiato CoffeeMate liquid cream to powdered cream is a major letdown.

5. You’re a “real grown up” when you get excited about things like a new refrigerator, re-doing a floor or your husband buying you a Pyrex bake and store set.

What did you learn this week?

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ADDED: How fitting is it that February is Burn Awareness month?Most of the burn awareness material has to do with scalding and not iron burns.

A bit of advice when it comes to ironing, when you are going to move the clothing item you’re ironing, set the iron facing away from you. Also, always iron while wearing clothing (one of my Twitter friends burned her stomach while ironing the shirt she was going to be putting on later) and if your hands start to sweat while ironing, put the iron down and dry them before you continue.

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Friday Five: Work Confessions

There’s no autopilot

The other evening, I was laying in bed thinking (this is why I have such trouble falling asleep). I’d had nearly three days of no-hitters on my Dexcom and hadn’t had a major high or low blood sugar, nor was I dealing with appetite issues, I was finally over my cold and I felt healthy again. I actually thought the word “autopilot” and at some point drifted off to sleep.

Then I woke up yesterday morning with a blood sugar of 183. I woke up early because I was attending a conference on the other side of the city. Before I left I was still reading in the 180s. I took more insulin and left. I had coffee for breakfast at the conference. The continental breakfast they provided looked amazing, they had pastries, muffins, fruit, bagels and parfaits to name a few items. All I could do was the coffee. All of the beautiful lunch that I enjoyed were the mixed vegetables, a big salad, a little bit of the chicken and a chocolate truffle (for which diabetes made me pay dearly). I passed up the cocktail part of the cocktail reception and had a piece of cheese. Dinner at home was similarly low carb, grilled chicken and broccoli.

I was hungry. All day.

I was frustrated. All day.

That’s what I get for thinking I was on autopilot, or even daring to be happy with my diabetes management. One little reminder that you can follow all the rules, stick strictly to a plan and still fail (or feel like you’ve failed) because your immune system is moronic.

But today was a new day. I woke up at a glorious 88 mg/dL.

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What didn’t change

Friday Five: Things I Love Right Now

1. Hummus. Brad doesn’t like hummus so I don’t get it very often, but I decided to pick some up for me the other day and it’s tasty! A good low carb snack with some carrots (also good with pita chips!)

2. Pinterest’s new secret boards. Don’t tell anyone, but I have a secret board for pinning gift ideas. I like keeping track of things using Pinterest so now I can keep ideas on there without worrying that the potential recipients might see them.

3. Tights. Warm, covered, cute legs make me happy. Now that I’m wearing dresses and skirts more, I like being able to keep that going in the winter. Also, the pods and I are making a fashion statement.

4. Seat heaters. Nothing like a toasty bottom in the morning. So much better than freezing it off on cold leather. The really lucky drives (*cough*cough* Brad*) have heated steering wheels.

Friday Five: Confessions

This Friday Five thing might become a regular feature….

Anyway it’s time for some confessions of the week:

1. I lost my credit card when I stopped to buy a head of lettuce at the store. I searched my purse, car and house before we reported it missing to the company. I’ll have a new card tomorrow. I found my “lost” card about an hour after the report, stuck to my driver’s license.
2. I enjoyed a cup of coffee before my dentist appointment today (and after).
3. I have already been plotting Christmas gifts for people, but I’m holding back because it seems so early to get them.

You’re Allowed to Have Bad Day

It seemed that a lot of my friends were having a rough go of it today. My heart goes out to you all for everything you’re dealing with today.

I recently heard someone say that they were taught that you’re allowed to have a bad day, but you’re not entitled to ruin anyone else’s. I really liked that. And it seemed that a lot of you, my dear friends, are dealing with the bad days that others are having.

Things are going pretty well at the moment, so I feel like sharing some sunshine (even though it’s a cloudy day in Cleveland).

Here are some things that are making me happy today and how they can help you be happy:

• Things are going well for the people that I love, my husband is happy, my mom is thriving, etc (being happy for others makes you happy)
  

  Helpful Kitty

• My kittens are adorable (it’s been proven that petting an animal reduces stress, let me know if you need to borrow a snuggly kitty)

Two of My Favorite Things

Fall + coffee

One Sunday morning we actually clicked the heat on in the house for the first time. It was a lovely, crisp fall (but not fall) morning that called for some good coffee.

I pinned a pumpkin spice latte recipe last year and finally had the stuff in the house to make them, so here’s the recipe (with my tweaks of course!)

I mostly followed the recipe found here, but here’s what I did:

• I used the canned pumpkin, but would highly recommend using the syrup to non-insulin challenged people. The tiny bits of pumpkin make the drink pretty thick and settle to the bottom.
• I used skim milk and Stevia
• As you can see I did not top them off with whipped cream
• In our regular-sized mugs there was enough for almost 3 lattes

Also involving coffee, at my husband’s request I made espresso chocolate chip cookies for having family over on Saturday.

Curb the complaining

It’s quite a Monday of a Tuesday today! (Monday needed a break this week too)

I love social media, but sometimes the people on it drive me insane! I got incredibly irritated the other day by various things being said online so instead of complaining about the complainers and annoyances, let’s talk about some things that I’m thankful for! (Seems like a theme sometimes)

• I’m thankful for the foundation that Brad and I built for our relationship before we got married. I’m not surprised by my role of wife and my husband is much, much more to me than just a new roommate.
• I’m thankful for the careful choices and responsible decisions that have lead me to this point in my life.
• I’m thankful that I woke up this morning and that I got at least a little sleep last night. I was woken up multiple times during the night by my Dexcom, I tested, I treated and returned to sleep on each occasion. I may not have had as many hours as I’d like, but waking up every day is a gift so why complain if my eyes are open?
• I’m thankful for my education and the ways that it serves me daily.
• I’m thankful for coffee, it’s warmth, taste and ability to transform this non-morning person into a pleasant human being on a daily basis. I’m also thankful for the woman in our office who makes the coffee and that it’s only on rare occasions that I fill in.
• I’m thankful for the generosity of others. We’re wrapping up our annual tool drive that benefits the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. Each August, more people participate and each August, more donations are made. I spent part of my day planning the pick ups for the event and there’s quite a list! (Also: I’m thankful for online route planners!)

I’m thankful for many more things that are not on this list, but for now six will do. I’ve found that I can complain, vent, rant and stew over dumb stuff as much as I want and still somehow not feel much better. Shifting my focus to thankfulness has been one of the best ways to curb complaining, halt sarcastic remarks and avoid passive aggressive social media behavior.

What are you thankful for today?

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Friday Five

Bullets, bullets, bullets! Five things I’m thinking about this lovely Friday before a holiday weekend.

1. I have a secret… and I think I’ll come clean now. I drink my beloved coffee with holiday cream in it all year long! As fall approaches, I take comfort knowing that as my current stash runs low, I’ll be able to replenish it before it runs out.
2. I’m checking things off my list! I attended my first NFL game last night. It may have been preseason, but it still counts! I went to football games in high school and college (go Purple Raiders!) so now I’ve been to a Browns game.